Santa Clara County D.A.: Prop 8 Responsible for Anti-gay Violence
Not breaking news, but additional information has surfaced (all boldface mine).
…..
In 2007, Santa Clara County saw 20 hate crime incidents. Seven of those – roughly one-third – were based on anti-gay bias. But in 2008, 25 hate crime incidents were reported, 14 of which were perpetrated against LGBT persons.
…..
Boyarsky said, “There were incidents that went the other way in Prop 8. In one case, the police were called because someone had parked a car in front of a house with several Yes on 8 signs in their yard. The car had signs saying ‘No on 8,’ and ‘Bigots Live Here.’ That’s not a hate crime, though. Being for Prop 8 or against Prop 8 is not a hate crime. More importantly than that, a political position is not a hate crime. A political party, for example, is not a protected class.”
…..
“Clearly there is correlation between the rise in incidences against LGBT people and the high profile of the Proposition 8 campaign,” Yeager wrote in an e-mail. “For most of us, we live very peacefully together. When hate crimes do happen, they are of great concern.”
…..
D’Elia also stated that the number of “hate-based, group-related incidents” increased, accounting for 13 of the 25 reported incidents. Nearly all of the groups were religious organizations, according to D’Elia.“We had incidences involving the Mormon Church in Fruitvale and near Lake Merritt in Oakland, as well as incidences involving the Fred Phelps group when he came out here. Most were conservative religious-based groups. The [alleged offenders] were from groups under the umbrella of religious organizations.”
D’Elia attributed the incidents to Prop 8 and said that some of these incidents were at political rallies.
“Prop 8 incidents ranged from anti-LGBT homophobic slurs, false arrests, not enforcing voter polling rights when Yes on 8 protesters were blocking polls, and refusing to take reports when people reported being physically attacked and threatened,” said D’Elia, of the cases reported to CUAV.
…..
Sacramento Police Sergeant Norm Leong told the B.A.R. that in 2007 there were 20 hate crimes, of which four were LGBT related. In 2008, Sacramento saw a total of 13 hate crimes, seven of which were attacks against the LGBT community. For 2009, the capital city so far has had a total of three hate crimes, all of which were perpetrated against LGBT people.Sacramento’s LGBT community has been impacted over the last decade by a large Slavic evangelical community that is virulently anti-gay, according to LGBT activist Jerry Sloan. Sloan told the B.A.R. that the high percentage of hate crimes being perpetrated against LGBT victims in the region “is not surprising.”
…..
Proposition H8 gave free pass to the bigots and their intolerance. It legitimized those who use religion as a weapon against others and a shield to defend themselves against any criticism of their own words and actions, no matter how heinous. What we’ve seen in Santa Clara County is merely the beginning now that the beasts have been freed to do as they will to us.
Related Reading:
Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Children?
Proposition 8 Causes Surge in Anti-Gay Violence.
